x200 volume suddenly 50% what it used to be

[mooingmooseman]

All of a sudden my max volume is 50% softer than before. I can barely hear it standing a few feet away.

What happened? I didn't [manually] install anything.

[Harryc]

Nothing personal because I have zero idea of your level of expertise with the OS...have you checked the volume sliders in the mixer in the taskbar?

[mooingmooseman]

haha I guess I should have been more specific.

Yes:
- thinkpad volume bar is at 50 (that's the max)
- windows master volume bar is at 100%
- individual applications' volume bar is at 100%
- sound is also softer when using headphones and USB speakers


I also checked the speakers' driver date and it's 11/20/10, though this may refer to the driver's creation date and not an indication if it was updated and installed on my computer recently?

[GomJabbar]

You can try Control Panel > Sound > click on Speakers, then Properties > Enhancements > check box for "Loudness Equalization" to increase the volume.

You can also try the options in Control Panel > Smart Audio. You can change the sliders or defaults for the equalizer. Concert seems to work pretty well.

[mooingmooseman]

the enhancement makes it even softer

i don't see the smart audio button on my control panel (i run WIN7 64BIT if that makes a difference)

[GomJabbar]

The box needs to be checked to make it louder.

You should see SmartAudio if you are using the factory image or installed the Conexant drivers from Lenovo. It is one of the icons in Control Panel. Note, I use the "Classic View" for Control Panel to see all the icons on one page.

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-Th ... 429#M23459

[mooingmooseman]

i don't have the factory install nor the driver because i remember installing them and losing 50% of the volume so i undid it.

also, checking the box makes it even softer than what it is now (i'd say 25%)

i'm going to try a system restore, though my recent system update was security related